Avalon, Part 2

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SG-1 Season 9
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Season 8				Season 10

Avalon, Part 2 is the second episode of the ninth season of Stargate SG-1.

This episode is part 2 of 3; it is preceded by "Avalon, Part 1" and followed by "Origin".

Contents 1 Plot 2 Notes 3 References 4 Sources

[edit] Plot

Daniel solves their puzzle, a logic/Ancient Proverb hybrid. He and Vala correctly assume that Mitchell and Teal'c are facing a similar test. They arrive in time for Daniel to translate one word of the Ancient text on the other puzzle, and Mitchell barely manages to rearrange the 8 blocks (corresponding to the numbers 1 through 8) in correct order.

They return to the main anteroom, where Mitchell is now able to remove the sword from the stone. However, as soon as he does so, a knight, fully armored, appears, and Mitchell is forced to fight. Teal'c attempts to shoot it with his P-90, but it turns out to be a hologram. Hologram or not, ignoring it appears not to be an option, because while a blow across the back does not actually leave a cut on Mitchell, it "hurt[s] like hell." In fact, Mitchell is the only one able to wield the sword - to everyone else it is just a hologram. After taking a number of blows, Mitchell manages to impale the knight, and the hologram disappears.

Nothing happens after he defeats the knight, so Daniel hypothesizes that perhaps only Colonel Mitchell has gained the right to actually continue the quest. The others leave by means of the rings, and as soon as they do, the room begins to shake. Mitchell does not interpret this as a good sign, and rings up to the Prometheus himself. Daniel immediately divines that Vala is the cause of the problem, and asks her what she has taken. She has, in fact, taken the coin which was the "treasure" spoken about in the riddle that Daniel solved.

Mitchell rings back down with the coin, and replaces the coin before the caverns collapse. On a hunch, he replaces the sword into the stone, and upon doing so, a massive amount of treasure appears in the cavern.

Among the treasures, which the SGC sends a team to catalogue, Daniel finds a book which reveals more about the Ancients than was previously known. Apparently, the Ancients (originally called Alterans) actually originally came from another galaxy to the Milky Way. Daniel extrapolates from this that there may actually be Alterans living in some other galaxy in the present day - that perhaps not all Ancients ascended after they returned to the Milky Way from the Pegasus galaxy to flee the Wraith. It could mean that some non-ascended Ancients can share knowledge with them freely. General Landry has no problem with Daniel's theory, but wants hard evidence and/or a plan of action. Daniel has hopes that one strange device found along with the treasure may be a method of intergalactic communication.

Dr. Lee has managed to figure out more about the device - it appears that in conjunction with the Ancient stones (which appeared in "Citizen Joe"), the device actually allows the user to see through the eyes of someone else. Daniel lays claim to one of the stones, on the grounds that he has already missed his chance to go Atlantis because of the treasure hunt, and Vala takes the other spot, on the somewhat feeble grounds that the "separation" might be enough to activate the bracelets they are wearing. They insert the stones next to each other on the device, and it emits a brief blue light, causing them both to collapse.

They appear together in the same room, though Daniel appears as a skinnier man, and Vala appears as a somewhat shorter, blond-haired woman. They appear to be themselves in mind, but certainly not in body. Daniel further discovers that they are husband and wife. The general atmosphere of the house, coupled with their mode of dress seems very different from what either of them expected Ancient culture to be.

Daniel and Vala (Harrid and Sallis) are apparently expected to attend something called "prostration," which they duly attend. They find that it is some sort of religious daily worship, a worship of gods called "the Ori". However, while at prostration, someone their inhabited bodies apparently know tells them it is necessary for them to meet by the "portico of light at the hour of bly."

Daniel and Vala arrive back at "home" after what was apparently six hours of "prostration". Upstairs in the house, Vala discovers a fake "Book of Origin" (the sacred text of the religion of Origin), which actually contains Ancient communication stones.

Later, the friend who Daniel and Vala were supposed to meet shows up at their house, and Daniel reveals the truth of who they are to him. Fannis explains that they are actually part of a secret group of heretics, and that since Daniel and Vala cannot seem to return to Earth, they must pose as Harrid and Salis so that the group is not discovered. Vala leaves to go to some meeting with an acquaintance of hers - apparently the wife of some type of priest.

Back on Dakara, the site of the new government which is to govern all the newly free Jaffa, Gerak has established the government as a High Council, made up of representatives based on military strength, which Teal'c strongly opposes. Having won this political battle, Gerak is instated as the new leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, much to Teal'c dismay.

Outside Harrid and Sallis's house, a crowd gathers around some sort of altar in the middle of the street. Daniel goes outside to find out what is happening, and Vala is brought to the altar. Daniel tries to explain, but he is restrained as is forced to watch as some sort of burning liquid is poured into channels which guide the liquid across the altar to where Vala is chained. Vala reveals to Daniel that she did not recite some type of blessing, which caused the priest's wife to accuse her of heresy.

While Vala is ignited by the burning liquid, on Earth, her body goes into cardiac arrest. Dr. Lee cannot remove the stones, and Daniel's attempts at explaining the circumstances to the priest go unheeded. Vala is burned to a crisp. On Earth, Dr. Lam pronounces her dead.

As Daniel holds Vala's charred body, a man in robes, holding an ornate staff, approaches the altar. The staff begins to glow, and Daniel watches in amazement as he brings Vala back to life. Daniel thanks him, but he responds, "Thank the Ori". He then tells them to follow him out of the square, and they follow.

[edit] Notes

• "Avalon (Part 2)" is the first episode of the series to feature only two members of the original cast: Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) and Christopher Judge (Teal'c). Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter does not appear in the episode, despite being listed in the cast credits.
• As of "Avalon (Part 2)", Christopher Judge (Teal'c) has appeared in more episodes than any other cast member. The only episode that he was absent in was "Prometheus Unbound". Prior to this, he was tied with Amanda Tapping (Carter).
• While Daniel discusses that Avalon was a place that Arthur and his knights gathered a great number of riches and treasures, Mitchell points out that one of those treasures was the Holy Grail. It would later be revealed in "Arthur's Mantle" that the "Holy Grail" was the very reason Merlin built the vault: he was using it as a lab to build the Sangraal, a weapon which could neutralize an Ascended being.
• SCI FI Channel chose to cut the opening sequences of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis to 10-seconds for the original broadcast, rather than the usual 60-seconds. The sequence only displayed the "Stargate SG-1" logo and a "Created by" credit, main cast credits were displayed during the teaser. On Sky One in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, the short opening sequence was also used for Part 1, however when Part 2 aired, a full length title sequence was restored, incorporating new cast credits. When Avalon aired in US Syndication, the full length title sequence was used.
• The hologram of Merlin is played by Matthew Walker who previously portrayed another Ancient named Moros in the Stargate Atlantis episode "Before I Sleep". In the Season Ten episode "The Pegasus Project", it will be revealed that they are the same person. He also played King Roham in the Season Two episode "Touchstone".

[edit] References

Ancients, Androids, Atlantis, Avalon, Battle of Antarctica, Daedalus, F-302, Intergalactic communication device, Nut, Ori, Ori home galaxy, P3K-447, Prometheus, PX3-989, SG-7, SG-12

[edit] Sources

• Official Stargate SG-1 site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006. Most of site requires Flash.
• Screenplay (PDF). Distributed by MGM. Prepared by Line 21 Media Services Ltd (2005-07-07). Retrieved on October 29, 2006.
• Summary from GateWorld. Visited May 3, 2006.
• Review from GateWorld. Reviewed by Lex. Visited May 13, 2006.
• In the Making from GateWorld. Joseph Mallozzi. Visited May 13, 2006.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Avalon (Stargate). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SGCommand, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.